Starmer backs finance minister after housing rules breach
[LONDON] UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer backed his finance minister on Thursday after she admitted to making an “inadvertent mistake” when renting out her family home, in the latest setback for his embattled government.
In a letter to Starmer late on Wednesday, Rachel Reeves admitted she had failed to obtain the required “selective” rental licence for her south London home when she moved into her Downing Street residence after Labour won power in July 2024.
An email chain released by Downing Street on Thursday - as the opposition called for a probe into the breach - showed the letting agency in charge of the rental process had offered to apply for the required licence but failed to do so.
The London estate agents apologised for the “oversight” which resulted in the breach.
Starmer’s office told reporters the prime minister had “full confidence” in his chancellor, who is due to present a key budget next month.
On Wednesday, Starmer told Reeves that his ethics adviser had recommended “further investigation is not necessary” and he was “satisfied” that the matter could be closed.
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“This was an inadvertent mistake. As soon as it was brought to my attention, we took immediate action and have applied for the licence,” Reeves wrote on Wednesday, adding “I sincerely apologise for this error”.
The misstep comes just weeks after Starmer’s deputy prime minister and housing minister Angela Rayner resigned for underpaying property tax, and could be another embarrassing blow for his under-fire centre-left Labour administration.
It follows a string of gaffes by Starmer and his ministers as they struggle to rein in irregular immigration, prompting surging support for Brexit champion Nigel Farage’s hard-right Reform UK party.
‘Apology sufficient’
Reeves’s rules breach comes less than a month before she unveils a crucial budget, when she has conceded tax rises and spending cuts are likely amid meagre economic growth, high borrowing and stubborn inflation.
The Telegraph reported on Thursday her ministry is considering hiking income tax, in a potentially toxic political move that would break pre-election promises made last year.
Starmer, in his Wednesday correspondence with Reeves, said a code governing ministerial behaviour “makes clear that in certain circumstances, an apology is a sufficient resolution”.
“It is regrettable that the appropriate licence was not sought sooner, and it is right that you have taken the appropriate steps today to address this,” he added.
In a letter following the publication of the email chain between the letting agency and her husband, Reeves said she still accepted that it was “our responsibility to secure the licence.”
However, Kemi Badenoch, the leader of the main opposition Conservatives, urged Starmer to “launch a full investigation”, saying if Reeves had broken the law “he will have to show he has the backbone to act”. AFP
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